Chapter 10: How Poverty Affects Academic Achievement
Summary:
In this chapter, Ravitch argues that poverty is highly correlated with low academic achievement. In comparison to the academic reformer's claim that poverty is an excuse for ineffective teaching and failing schools. Everyone can agree that teachers need to be effective. Specifically, Bill Gates, the Obama Administration, and other education reformers believe that if impoverished children are not achieving high levels, it is because their teachers have low expectations and are not effective. However, poverty is most likely the reason that these students are not doing so well. Poverty affects children's health and well-being, emotional lives, attention spans, school attendance records, academic performance, motivation to do well, and forces them to focus on daily survival. In a society of great abundance, poverty is degrading and most are dragged down by the circumstances of being poor. This is proven in impoverished students in America. Actually, the rate of childhood poverty in America is higher than any other advanced nation. UNICEF reported that it is as high as 23%. The burdens of poverty prove to be physical, emotional, cognitive, and physiological. It has major affects on students in America. The achievement gap begins at the very first day of kindergarten. Students with good health, regular checkups, good nutrition, educated parents, live in a literate environment, basic economic security, and a variety of afterschool and summer activities. These basic standards help students thrive, but children in poverty often fall behind from not having these basic keys for survival.
People are debating about which should be fixed first: poverty or schools. Bill Gates believes that there can be good schools in poor neighborhoods, so improving education will solve poverty. However, Joel Klein (Chancellor of New York schools) believes that America will never fix their education until they fix poverty, but America will never poverty until they fix urban schools. Our country has sadly accepted poverty as this huge issue that is almost impossible to solve, but better education seems far more attainable. Reformers believe that no matter how oppressive poverty is, it can be overcome with effective teachers. However, this is not the case. This belief delays the steps necessary to heal our society and help children. Fixing schools will help fix poverty.
Opinion:
I was specifically interested in this chapter because one day I would like to work for Teach for America or possibly be an elementary teacher in a city. This chapter gave me an entirely new perspective on poverty and how it affects schools. I have lived five minutes from New Haven, Connecticut all of my life, but I have never given much thought to how much some students are probably struggling dealing with poverty. It is unbelievable how many people are arguing about what should be fixed first, but we should all be making efforts to help. I believe that schools should be fixed first. Urban schools should be fixed to become safe and positive places for its students to go. They should all be given enough funding to provide all students with proper resources, assistance, and effective teachers. Effective teachers are important, however, it is more important to make students want to learn and ask questions. Learning should be a positive environment no matter where you live or how much money you have. This can only be achieved if people make efforts to fix schools in order to improve poverty.
Summary:
In this chapter, Ravitch argues that poverty is highly correlated with low academic achievement. In comparison to the academic reformer's claim that poverty is an excuse for ineffective teaching and failing schools. Everyone can agree that teachers need to be effective. Specifically, Bill Gates, the Obama Administration, and other education reformers believe that if impoverished children are not achieving high levels, it is because their teachers have low expectations and are not effective. However, poverty is most likely the reason that these students are not doing so well. Poverty affects children's health and well-being, emotional lives, attention spans, school attendance records, academic performance, motivation to do well, and forces them to focus on daily survival. In a society of great abundance, poverty is degrading and most are dragged down by the circumstances of being poor. This is proven in impoverished students in America. Actually, the rate of childhood poverty in America is higher than any other advanced nation. UNICEF reported that it is as high as 23%. The burdens of poverty prove to be physical, emotional, cognitive, and physiological. It has major affects on students in America. The achievement gap begins at the very first day of kindergarten. Students with good health, regular checkups, good nutrition, educated parents, live in a literate environment, basic economic security, and a variety of afterschool and summer activities. These basic standards help students thrive, but children in poverty often fall behind from not having these basic keys for survival.
People are debating about which should be fixed first: poverty or schools. Bill Gates believes that there can be good schools in poor neighborhoods, so improving education will solve poverty. However, Joel Klein (Chancellor of New York schools) believes that America will never fix their education until they fix poverty, but America will never poverty until they fix urban schools. Our country has sadly accepted poverty as this huge issue that is almost impossible to solve, but better education seems far more attainable. Reformers believe that no matter how oppressive poverty is, it can be overcome with effective teachers. However, this is not the case. This belief delays the steps necessary to heal our society and help children. Fixing schools will help fix poverty.
Opinion:
I was specifically interested in this chapter because one day I would like to work for Teach for America or possibly be an elementary teacher in a city. This chapter gave me an entirely new perspective on poverty and how it affects schools. I have lived five minutes from New Haven, Connecticut all of my life, but I have never given much thought to how much some students are probably struggling dealing with poverty. It is unbelievable how many people are arguing about what should be fixed first, but we should all be making efforts to help. I believe that schools should be fixed first. Urban schools should be fixed to become safe and positive places for its students to go. They should all be given enough funding to provide all students with proper resources, assistance, and effective teachers. Effective teachers are important, however, it is more important to make students want to learn and ask questions. Learning should be a positive environment no matter where you live or how much money you have. This can only be achieved if people make efforts to fix schools in order to improve poverty.